Five reasons why Canada needs a federal election now

By John Size | Daily Brew – 2 hours 43 minutes ago

Vote-weary Canadians are about to go to the ballot box for the fourth time in less than seven years and if polls are correct, it's not something most are looking forward to as spring arrives.
But there's a brighter side to a federal election that many voters are starting to see, especially following the raucous last session of Parliament and the current imbroglio over ethics and procedure.
1. Refreshing new leaders may surface
It's clear in this election that all three national leaders in the House of Commons have their jobs on the line. If the Liberals fail to make a breakthrough, many in the party will want to usher in a new charismatic leader. Michael Ignatieff has failed to resonate with voters, sitting near the bottom in voter confidence.
While Prime Minister Stephen Harper enjoys the best voter support as a leader, if he doesn't win a majority, he will be a three-time minority winner, sort of. Harper will likely step down when the smoke clears.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has questionable health, with recent hip surgery and his current battle with prostate cancer. This is expected to be his final campaign.
2. Parliament will deal with 'real' issues
The hand-written word "not" is now enshrined in Canadian political lore, after chain-smoking cabinet minister Bev Oda had it scribbled on a document denying a religious group funding.
It caused an uproar, committee meetings and led to opposition parties accusing the government of unethical behaviour. Then, there's the current sideline of issue of former Conservative insider Bruce Carson under investigation by the RCMP for possible illegal lobbying, topped off with the reason the government is expected to be defeated Friday in a confidence motion — not providing Parliament with additional costing documents on its crime legislation and purchase of new fighter jets.
OK, enough bickering already.
Polls consistently show Canadians care more about health care than any other issue. Coming in a close second is the economy. A vote might reset the parliamentary agenda to issues that matter most to Canadians.
3. Give voters a chance to form a coalition
If Canadian voters support  a coalition government, they will return the same MPs to Parliament in the same numbers. Take away all the rhetoric and you can bet there will likely be a deal cut between the Bloc, NDP and Liberals to form a majority coalition. Ignatieff and Layton certainly don't deny it at this point. It almost happened before between former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, Layton and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe. Voters now have a choice to support one or send one of the parties back to the House with a majority.
4. Social media and young voters
Let's face facts, most voters in Canada are older, the majority considered senior citizens. Voter turnout is low, with the last federal election (2008) garnering a mere 59.1 per cent, meaning almost 40 per cent of eligible voters didn't cast a ballot.
Well, Twitter just celebrated its fifth anniversary and social media applications are expected to play a major role in the upcoming campaign with the hopeful result of bringing younger voters into the political fold. Between tweets and Facebook, maybe this time around the demographics of the ballot box will finally change.
5. Some bills will die, some will live
As the House of Commons is dissolved for an election, about 30 bills will die, some of which have been winding their way through the system for a decade.
Bill C-32, an amendment to copyright laws that would for one thing legalize copying of CDs, but prohibit breaking of digital locks, resulting in artists getting a fair shake for their talents, is gone.
But, for more liberal thinkers, so is Bill C-10 that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for various marijuana violations. At one time, Parliament was considering decriminalizing the commonly used substance.
As well, amendments to the much-maligned Senate will also die, including a provision to limit the terms of politically appointed senators and a bill to redistribute House seats to better reflect population, a key democratic principle.
But, voters must keep in mind, an election is the ultimate form of exercising democratic rights, so it can't be all that bad, or can it?
(CP Photo)